Why do my commanders keep dying of disease?

[Gandalf Parker]

As to why you keep losing commanders to disease you might try searching for a death or blood site that causes disease in a province you like to build in or march thru. Late in the game I think there are spells that can cause disease in your provinces also. And of course attacking certain enemys can get you diseased.

As to fixing it, I agree that it seems like something that I should have a chance to get over. Or come in levels of damage like poison does.

Maybe diseased units should have a chance to heal up if they return home for awhile. To rest. The game already keeps track of "home province" for each unit and gives battle bonuses for it. Or maybe if they returned to the capital.

[ November 19, 2003, 14:03: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

[Teraswaerto]

Disease isn't that hard to avoid, and it adds a a nice touch to the game. Something to keep you on your toes. It shouldn't be easy to cure.

[Taqwus]

Right now, it seems that disease is binary -- a unit either has a terminal disease or it doesn't. Varying severity might make sense. Not all diseases should be readily cured, but it wouldn't be completely unreasonable for some to be survivable without magical action.
(Addendum. Last night I saw the Tien Chi AI try to siege a castle of mine w/ about 1000+ units. One of its commanders, the "Master with the Iron Crutch" immortal, helped kill a fair part of his force I think because he spreads disease... whereas I had the Chalice inside, and enough supply/units to hold out arbitrarily long. It shouldn't bring disease-spreaders with a large force unless they're immune, they've got GoHealth (which I had, not Tien Chi), or have numerous healers, or it's an absolute necessity for some bizarre reason).

[ November 19, 2003, 15:44: Message edited by: Taqwus ]

[licker]

Lets not nerf disease (and curse) so quickly. Sure its annoying, but that's what it's supposed to be! Undead in particular can get shafted pretty easilly, let their immunity to disease be worth something...

[NTJedi]

It's just that 'Disease' in this game is worse than the bubonic plague and ebola combined ! Diseased units Never Survive without some extreme extraordinary measures.

My point is that disease always... always... always kills unless magic is used. And thus it shouldn't be called diseased... because its so much worse than what the definition of a disease is.

[Edi]

Oh, boo-hoo!

I've never had a problem with disease, really. It's annoying as hell, but not fatal (other than to units that get it). Just yesterday while playing Abysia (Dom-PPP, not Dom2) I got my prophet diseased around turn 8 or 10. It annoyed the hell out of me, of course, but them's the breaks. Of course, the province he had been in immediately got Dark Knowledged and sure enough, Chillsick Swamp popped up. Inkpot End and Leper Fens are the other two disease sites.

Disease from causes other than starvation is pretty rare, and I don't think it should be nerfed down. If my favorite commander gets it, then I'll be **** out of luck unless I can develop the cures, but them's the breaks. If it's something that happens immediately in the early game to some special hero (such as happened to me in a R'lyeh game where I got Shadul Ummuush from the start), I'm just as liable to start a new game immediately.

Leper Fens and Chillsick Swamp are Death sites, and can actually be pretty nice to have in some inconsequential and otherwise useless backwater provinces, as they have pretty good gem income (2w + 1d & 1d + 1n + 1w, respectively). Inkpot End is just a pain in the *** no matter where it is.

Edi

[Humer]

What I'd like to see is more "kick-inna-nuts"-sites, meaning that site has some evil, if not fiendish, surprise. These could include:
- sites (found or not) that cause % chance of assassination attempt by some thing (void-thingys?) in the province
- sites that when found, cause a horde of some evil monsters to attack and reclaim the province. If searcher is killed, then province becomes neutral and site becomes hidden!
- sites (found or not) that give afflictions other than disease. Some misleading message might be included, such as "Some unknown assassin tried to kill your commander, but he got away with a wound."
- summoning bonus sites with a chance of "backfiring" as in R'lyeh's Void Gate
- different (all fatal) diseases, such as decreasing strenght, attack, leadership

And then umroll: spells to provide these effects, too!

- Humer